


Waiting for a Sign

by kajivar



Category: Ladyhawke (1985)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-20
Updated: 2007-12-20
Packaged: 2018-01-25 05:41:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1634543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kajivar/pseuds/kajivar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Isabeau and Navarre are struck by the Bishop of Aquila's curse and struggle to adapt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Waiting for a Sign

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Izzy and Kiki for beta-ing! :)
> 
> Written for st_aurafina

 

 

Looking back, Imperius decided that the Bishop must have suspected there was something between Isabeau and Navarre, or that Isabeau had a secret lover. He plied the monk with wine and waited patiently for it to loosen his tongue before asking his questions. It was not their usual meeting to address the needs of the congregation; the Bishop wanted information on Isabeau and recognized her closeness to Imperius. He knew the monk had a weakness for wine and took full advantage of it to learn more about the object of his obsession.

When Imperius confessed that he had performed a secret marriage for Isabeau and Navarre, the Bishop stiffened, his hand tight on his wine goblet. "Leave me," he commanded, and Imperius immediately obeyed. As he fled the Bishop's chambers, he heard the sound of the goblet striking the door behind him, then other objects smashing to the floor. A hate-filled voice, barely recognizable as his superior's, shouted, "Then no man shall!"

Imperius recognized what he had done and quickly sent word to Isabeau. She and Navarre fled from Aquila. The Bishop declared Navarre a traitor to God and country and named Isabeau as an innocent woman Navarre had kidnapped and meant to spoil. He ordered the Aquilan guard to hunt their former captain down, but the men knew Navarre and could not believe he was a spy or a servant of Satan, and their half-hearted efforts to track him found no success. Imperius prayed for forgiveness and the safety of the young couple, while the Bishop turned to the darker powers that he accused Navarre of serving. . . .

* * *

Their flight from the city had been frightening at first, then exciting, like an adventure from a child's storybook. Isabeau missed her cousin and the ease of her privileged life in Aquila, but there was no place that she would rather be than with her truest love, Etienne of Navarre. The safest place in the world was sitting before him on Goliath, his strong arms around her as they road through the countryside. He would let nothing harm her.

Then one evening she awoke from a nightmare, gasping as she tried to banish the vision of a dark shadowy force ripping Navarre from her arms. "Navarre?" she whispered into the darkness. Even after their marriage she rarely called him by his Christian name, fearing she would slip and call him Etienne in public and expose their secret. Now it was just habit. She reached out to the other side of the bed they shared at the tiny inn they had discovered that evening.

Her fingers brushed fur, and she jerked her hand back, because she knew the bed had no such fine coverings. A low growl rumbled from nearby as a weight shifted on the bed. Isabeau cried out and tumbled from the bed. She knew she could not find a candle quickly, so she crawled over to the window and flung the shutters open, letting the light from the full moon outside flood the room.

Yellow eyes gleamed from the bed, and she could make out the form of a large black dog. No, a wolf, it was surely too big to be a dog. "Navarre!" she cried out, looking around for a way to protect herself from the beast. His sword was too heavy for her, but she had a knife he had given her -- on the other side of the room.

The wolf jumped from the bed and padded toward her. Isabeau shrank back into a corner, opening her mouth to scream. But the wolf stopped, looked at her curiously, then yawned and settled on the floor, resting his head upon her leg. Afraid to move or speak, Isabeau huddled in the corner for the rest of the night.

As dawn broke outside hours later, Isabeau prayed for Navarre's return from wherever he had gone. The wolf seemed almost tame, as if he was protecting her, waking up whenever he heard a noise outside the door, then settling again when he determined there was no danger. As light began to creep into the room, she began to feel strange, dizzy, her limbs tingling. The black fur of the wolf seemed to glow as the sun touched him. He lifted his head and looked at her, and then in an instant it was Navarre's eyes into which she stared. She began to call his name in surprise and joy, but the only sound that emerged was the cry of a hawk.

* * *

Navarre awoke on the cold floor, confused and disoriented. He looked up to see Isabeau beside him, her hand covering her mouth as she stared at him in shock. Then she was gone, and a hawk screeched and flapped about the room, soaring through the open window.

He had no idea what had happened. Surely he could not have just seen Isabeau transformed into a bird, such a thing was impossible. He quickly dressed and ran outside in search of the hawk. Fortunately, she had not gone far, and he found the hawk sitting on a tree limb.

"Isabeau?" he whispered, stretching up his hand toward the bird. She fluttered her wings and hopped from the branch onto his arm, talons digging into the leather armor.

"What madness is this?" Navarre said, patting the hawk's feathers. This had to be some bizarre dream. Try as he might, he could not awaken himself. He returned to the inn, and the hawk was content to perch in the windowsill, soaring away at times and returning with a rabbit or field mouse to devour. He spent the day watching her, uncertain as to what he should do.

When evening fell, he no longer cared. Isabeau returned, but Navarre had only the thoughts of a wolf. He still recognized Isabeau somehow, a mate despite the wrongness of her scent and shape. Protect. Must protect.

* * *

It took some time for them to understand what was happening. By day, Navarre was himself and Isabeau was transformed into a hawk. By night, Isabeau was human and Navarre became a wolf. As animals they remembered nothing of their human lives; as man or woman they could not remember what they did as beasts. But the bond of love between them was strong enough to always draw them to each other.

They left notes for one another, and Navarre swore he would find a way to reverse the evil curse that had been placed upon them. For months they traveled the countryside, evading the men the Bishop still sent to search for them, seeking information to undo their transformations. Wise men, village witches, worshippers of ancient pagan gods - none of them could help them.

Isabeau fell into despair, lashing out at Navarre and blaming him for what had befallen them. She would leave the wolf at dawn so she would not have to see him return to his true form. The letters she left were angry and bitter, if she left a note at all. But she knew it was not his fault, and she left him words asking for forgiveness and swearing her love. She did not, however, remain at his side at dawn. The pain of seeing him for a heartbeat and being unable to touch him was too much for her to bear. She would sit alone and struggle not to cry as she watched the sun rise and remembered the happy times they had once spent together.

* * *

In the ruins of an ancient castle, Navarre found Imperius, living in self-imposed exile. He confessed what he had done to Navarre, confirming his suspicions that somehow the Bishop was behind all of this. Navarre was enraged and only barely managed to keep himself from killing Imperius for his betrayal, despite the monk's pleas for forgiveness. Imperius promised he would find a way to help them, but Navarre coolly dismissed him and told him never to come near him or Isabeau again.

* * *

It became clear to Navarre that the only way to end their torment was to kill the Bishop. Even if it did not restore them, it would satisfy his need for vengeance. Getting into Aquila, however, seemed impossible. The city was guarded and he and Isabeau would be arrested on sight. The only time the Bishop was not safely hidden away in his chambers was during Mass, but the doors of the church were locked from the inside. There had to be a way inside - but how?

Then one morning as he sat astride Goliath on the hills above Aquila, Isabeau perched on his arm, he heard a sound he had never heard before: the warning bells. Someone had done the impossible and escaped the dungeons of Aquila.

He looked heavenward. Finally, after two years of enduring this curse, he had the sign that God had not abandoned him and Isabeau. If someone had escaped Aquila, that person could guide him back inside, and he would have his revenge.

 

 

 


End file.
